The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1887-08-24

Silver "a Foot Thick"--A Yarn as Is a
Yarn.
CLINTON, Ind, August l9.-BetEeen
Clinton, Ind, and the Illinois line is a
hiily bit Of country through which flows
a little stream called Coal creek. In the
hills are valuable coal beds, lying gener-
ally only few feet below the surface of
the ground and cropping out many
! places. The log cabins OF miners and
poor formers, with here and there q
stoDy field Of corn and oats, are the only
signs of civilization in the wild neigh
borhood. The people have remarka-
bic story to tell to any stranger who may
chance to penetrate into their territory.
They firmly believe that there is a
vein of pure silver ga foot thick" in q
certain hill at the side of the creek.
This rich vein of metal, they say, ex-
tends under the bed of the creek and
then is lost beneath high hill on the
other side. No white man, now alive,
has ever seen this treasure. Many years
ago, however, an old man. dressed in
ragged garments, and acting as if he had
lost his wits, was seen occasionally in the
neighborhood, and it was believed he
knew the secret of the mine. The old
man, after remaining in the hills.two or
three days and nights, would disappear
as mysteriously as he came. When any
one questioned him about the mine, he
gould shrink from them and say: cit
would be death for me to tell"
The people believed that this old man
dug up what silver he could carry away
away and then departed, only returning
when he needed more. He has not been
seen for a number of years, however,
and it is thought that he is dead.
The mine-so the story runs-is hid
den from human eyes by the power of
Indian magicians. Furthermore, it is
protected by two grim guardians-a
great lion and snake one hundred feet
long. There are many people in that
vicinity who say they have seen the lion
and the snake. As they are never known
to leave any track behind them it is be-
Iieyed that they are ghosts. The people
say that when the Indi -s were driven
out Of that country by the white settlers
the magicians Of the tribe killed the lion
and the snake and left their ghosts to
guard the mine. In order to furnish
these ghosts with hiding place the In
dians set fire to e bed of coal, which
cropped out of the hill near by, thus
forming deep cave, which is there to
this day, and which nc one has ever
dered to explore. In this dark hole the
two ghostly guardians are bound by
charm. The snake, however, is per-
mitted to leave the den once every year,
while the lion has the same privilege
accorded it once every four or five years.
At such times as they are free they roam
abroad and create terror for miles
around.
The snake vas last seen in the summer
Of 1886 by . man named Murphy, who
with his little son was picking black
berries in the woods. The father and
son ran away as fast as they could; in
tact, no one who has ever seen this Won
derful serpent ever did anything in its
presence except run away from it, so far
as any one can now remember. The
lion, however, has been hunted.
John Fletcher, farmer, one day
about ten years ago saw the lion II front
OF him. He ran to a neighbor's house
and got gun, companion and pack
of hounds. They followed the Lion to
thicket, in which it disappeared. The
hounds on catchin> sight of the beast
first bristled up, and then turned tail and
ran. The hunters also became frightened
ard went home.
Mrs. Hocket, when little girl, saw
the lion sitting by stump on hill near
her fathers house. She began to scream
and her father ran to her. He could not
see the beast and told her that she was
afraid of stump. He go an axe and
cut down the stump, but the lion still
sat there. It finally went away. A few
years later Mrs. Hockett's sister saw IN
animal "ike big, woolly dog" running
down hill by her side. Presently she
saw it was Ion and ran away.
About ten years later Mrs. Hockett
her husband, and one Of two other per-
sons, while going along lonely road at
night, heard an animal breathing In o
thicket fcw feet away. Before they
had time to get badly frightened they
heard the animal rise above the tops Of
the young trees and then crash down
into the bushes several hundred feet
away. \ few more OF these tremendous
leaps took it out of hearing. They did
not doubt but that it was the lion.
The spectral snake is described as be-
ing black in color and as large around as
the body Of man. The people believe
that the charm by which 1t and the lion
are held Will become powerless IN few
more years, and that they will go away
and never return. Then the lost silver
mine will be found. The white man,
who formerly visited the mine, is sup
posed TO have received from the Indians
!. charm by which he could control the
guardian specters. When he died the
secret was lost.
In the above bare statement the curl
Gus belief Of the Coal Creek dwelers is
given without adornment of any sort, its
value lying in the simple faith with
which the people of that locality accept
it as the truth. The story reads Like q
relic OF some medieval tale OF enchant-
ment and fiery dragons, which in some
strange manner has been transplanted on
American soil.